how to | making a center pull ball of yarn

this is my classy set-up for winding my yarn into balls:

i was considering a $40 ball winder, but after i came to my senses, i decided the money would be better spent on yarn☺

now, this is just the start of a ball, but if you're wanting to wind your own yarn balls/cakes, this is how i do it:

start by unwrapping your hank of yarn. i like to hang mine over my chair with the nice little knobs on top to hang over, although you can just hang over any chair back or even (in moments of weakness & desperation) drape it over your knees & hope for the best.

using a nice cardboard core, either from paper towels or better yet from a package of aluminum foil (heavier & sturdier), drop the end of yarn down through the hole, make sure there's plenty hanging out the end so you don't have to fiddle with it slipping up.

then start by winding some yarn around, an inch or so wide. then make a quarter turn around and wrap some more, going another quarter turn and wrapping some more. i usually start the beginning by wrapping straight around the core, then make the turns & wrap at an angle from the one end to the other of the core. keep making these turns and wrapping until you're done.

pull the ball off of the core and the yarn that was down inside the core will be your center pull.

wah-lah. all finished!

the big 3

day to day living consists of mainly 3 things for me:

1. school
2. food
3. knitting

i blog a lot about the last 2, not so much about the first one.

ahhh, school. we like it, we love it, we want more of it!
really? naahhhh, not really.
but we do what we have to.
it's the law.

so.... we recently began studying about abstract art. our first project was based upon the works of kandinsky.

the guys listened in earnest while i taught them what abstract art was and what an artist might want to convey to his audience through his work.

we listened to classical music & realized that any given piece can paint a picture of its own in your mind as you listen. this was very cool.

{we also found that we're not fond of opera. the little boy felt that if you go to the opera, you might want to leave your glasses at home, lest they be broken(by the soprano's high notes). he also contemplated the idea of opera singers practicing in the shower like the rest of us might. these are deep & challenging thoughts.}

all in all, we agree to avoid opera at all costs. forever & ever amen.

now, veering back on track...

my 7th grader's work is entitled "the evolution of science". not kidding.

he actually has a long, drawn out, detailed reasoning behind the different parts of his piece & what part of science they are referring to. i will admit my mind went a little numb as he was describing it to me.

i know... bad mama.

here are our finished works, up close:

my 4th grader's work is untitled. that's ok. it doesn't have to have a name. he did push the envelope on real abstract art though. i'll let it pass this time☺

my 7th grader's "evolution of science"


and this is mine. my oldest suggests the title "unit 1". sounds good. it doesn't have any real significant meaning to me. (don't tell the students, but i just wanted to get it done in a reasonable amount of time. i'm not a fast artist☺)

now, on to the good stuff!

aaahhhh, food.

these babies.... pecan pie bars...

were off the hook!

let's just say, people were angry when they were gone. like evil eye, don't like you anymore angry. all i can say is, at least i know i'm good for something around here.

and the knitting. i just finished my first sweater.

it's a wee little baby shrug for my 1 yr old niece. it's a free debbie bliss pattern found here or you can ravel it.

baby knits are so much fun☺

now, to start a sweater for myself - i'm terrifyingly excited. i got the scarves, hats, gloves and socks under my belt, but sweaters are a whole different animal.

let the fun begin!

sweet baby cap, part 1

my newest favorite cute little baby knit... i used some patons sock yarn for this one.

you can go direct to the pattern for the norwegian sweet baby cap or ravel it here.

now, once i get a little baby head inside the cap, it'll be even cuter ☺
can't wait to see what it looks like on!


and.... i enjoyed making this one so much, i'm recently finished making my second one (part 2).

my misti's

that's what i'm callin them.... my misti's made from misti alpaca hand paint sock yarn... did you know that alpaca is 7 times warmer than wool? it's also a little hairier. just a little yarn/fiber trivia ☺

my latest pair of socks made using my favorite book of sock patterns....

this time, i tried the eye of partridge heel just to know how...

i love how they turned out...


but most of all, i love that they're mine!

smooshy socks

one of my most recent projects was these smooshy socks for my bff's birthday.
*hey cheryl! i'm wearing your socks again☺

this pattern is from getting started knitting socks by ann budd. i highly recommend it if you want to start knitting socks. it covers it all & the patterns are very straightforward & leave no question unturned. i like that in a pattern/book☺

i think i love the yummy yummy smooshy & can't wait to make a pair for myself.

this new year...

i am loving this new year.

as much as i was not ready for the holidays when they began, i am more than ready for this new year. right about now, i am all about chances to make things fresh, new, better.

last night we had a discussion with our boys about the new year & setting goals.
somehow the whole conversation sounded like some sort of dreaded punishment we were bestowing upon them. that was totally NOT what i intended, but it had that general feel. i tried to impress upon them that setting goals is a good thing & it's great to have that feeling of accomplishment.

they really weren't impressed. but still, we are asking them to come up with 3-5, realistic, do-able goals by the end of the week.

so, what are your goals this year?

-----------------------------------------------------

usually, i have a list and keep it pretty short & simple. it's catagorized & everything. i like it that way because life has so many catagories, doesn't it? usually it's something like personal, family, homeschooling & other (home, hobbies, work, etc).

this year, i am flooded with things that need to be done & it's hard to narrow it down.

first, more laughter. laugh with my family, my friends, myself. i don't do this enough & i don't know why. i'm too serious & i know it. laughing is good for you & i need to come up with a way to do it more. enuff said.

secondly, hang pictures. i want to get off my hump about hanging things on the walls. i really don't even want to talk about it because it's so dull....but suffice it to say that we have lived here 4 1/2 years and there's almost nothing on the walls, pictures or otherwise. it's starting to get on my nerves.

...and curtains. i should really start thinking about curtains, but i'm not sure that's going to make it into this years goals. i envsion the big boy moving out before curtains get put up in his room. but here, i'm rambling...

third, a vacation. and i don't mean camping☺. we are talking sunny beaches here. i think this is going to be my favorite goal to achieve and i'm soooo looking forward to it. *this is a joint goal between the man & myself. i like those goals. they're happy goals ☺

fourth, do art. in school, i have severely slacked about art projects. and you would think i'd be all over it, but i just don't want to take the time to fit it in. but i've promised myself that this winter, we'll be all about art. so i'm getting my stuff out this week. it's GOT to be done!

fifth, do better & be better. i want to be a better wife & mom. do better, living each day with it's own little "on purpose" set of goals. there's so much i could toss into this pot, but i don't want to bore the masses. i just know that if i do the same, i'll be the same & i'll get the same results. i want things to be different, and that means i have to do & be different. this one's going to take the most work & it's probably not going to be finished this year, but i've got to start now.

oh... and fear not, there will be lots more knitting too.....

above photo courtesy of the big boy☺

fingerless glove love...

he's all smiles -
somebody loves his birthday mitts....


another thing i love about knitting.... i can get an idea in my head at the last minute & whip something up that's going to be cherished by the recipient.

score one for mom☺

knitting socks

i am so excited -they're finished!

like my abused uggs? those babies keep my feet warm from september thru may. *note they're not pretty ones...they're functional ones ☺

i have a real affection for great striped socks. my best friend & i get each other socks for gifts pretty much every christmas. my boys usually get me socks for my stocking too.

so far i've been really leery about paying the price for wool socks, even though i could really use them. but now that i'm knitting, the opportunity is so sweet!

they say once you've worn handmade socks, you won't want to wear anything else. i'll let you know how that turns out ☺

so stay tuned... there are sure to be more socks in the very near future.

but for now, i'm heading onward to more power knitting for christmas! did you know there are only 30ish days till christmas? ee-gads!

this dreary week...

life is feeling dreary around here. i'm finding myself yawning at every turn.

nothing spectactular going on here, but i'll tell ya what IS happening....

this past weekend we celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. we lived it up with some mighty good seafood at red lobster & started watching season 3 of dexter. man, i love that show☺

i baked a cheesecake for us. it was yum-may! my poor boys are so sheltered that neither of them knew what a real baked cheesecake was. i think i should have kept them in the dark even longer, seeing as they both reeeally liked it. it's one of those things i'll have to hide if i want my share.

we've had 2 trips to the dentist & one to the orthodontist this week. isn't that exciting?

and last night i got to spend 2 hours watching my youngest painfully do his best to stay upright on rollerskates. when i say "painfully" i really do mean painfully.

otherwise, i'm spending every spare minute sock knitting, which i absolutely l o v e! and since i already have a thing for socks, this is the perfect addiciton. i'm almost finished with a new pair & i'll be posting pictures as soon as i'm done. they're scrump-dilly-icious☺

and because no post is a good post without photos, here are the people who keep me going whether i like it or not, 24/7/365...



so thanks for reading the blog & be sure to check back soon for more titillating details of my life & those around me ☺

i love wool & wool loves me

between christmas projects, i have been working on these. if you know me, you probably know i have really cold hands. i mean reeeeally cold. and when i started knitting last fall, fingerless gloves were at the top of my things-to-do list.

well, i finally made them & i'm in love!

they are warm & cozy.
they are useful.
they are versatile.
they are grey.☺

and they are somewhat addictive. i am envisioning a lot more pairs of these puppies in the near future!

these fingerless gloves were knit using a combination of ideas from the pattern toasty & the thumb gusset instructions from the pattern cabled fingerless gloves, both found on ravelry. the yarn used is shepherd's wool from stonehedge fibermill, which can be found locally at the shuttle shop in warsaw.

*photo courtesy of my beloved 13 yr old who was ever so willing to take time out from his schoolwork to photograph my gloves

xmas knits update...

if you're keeping track (which i know you're not), i am still knitting for xmas & after a short break to make some footies, fingerless gloves & still working on a pair of socks, i'm back on track & finishing more xmas projects...

this pattern is turn a square found on ravelry for free. it's easy & cute...you should try it...☺

....sshhhh..... don't tell anyone i tried this one on the little boy just to get a good photo...

14 gifts down, 10 more (at least) to go.
i am loving every minute of it!

knitting top down hats

have i mentioned that i love knitting?

once i start in, i cannot get enough of it. i thoroughly enjoy pert-near every little aspect of it. i even find enjoyment in ripping back because i learn something new with each experience which always comes in handy for the next project.

i know...you're thinking "ripping back?" sounds crazy, but knitting things up right, that's simple. seeing & fixing mistakes, that's where the rubber meets the road.

so before i get way off track, i have to take a moment & explain my love for the top down hat.

there is just something completely fascinating & effective about this method. i know that experienced knitters talk it up about making almost any garment "top down" or in the case of socks "toe up" because that way, you can try on the garment as you go, easier to get a custom fit as you knit. and top down usually means "one piece" which is also very nice. top down is opposite to the normal method of knitting. normally you would start a hat at the brim, or socks at the leg opening, or sweaters at the bottom hem edge.

and i suppose that this is all a personal opinion as to which method is "better".

i find that making a hat top down is just very gratifying, although it stretches me - as far as my bind off skills go. i have finally gotten a comfortably loose cast on under my belt. now to master the art of a loose bind off.

i'm a tight knitter, so when i first started knitting i used to cast on or bind off with some sort of death grip. too tight around any opening is just bad. and with the top down hat, a tight bind off means 1) it's hard to comfortably get the hat over your head and 2) this uncomfortable pinch around your skull with a nice little indent to show for it on your forehead - not a good thing.

i am getting better at it & find it helpful to go up at least a needle size just for the bind off. kind of feels like cheating, but since many experienced & talented knitters go this route, i say why not?

so if you like knitting hats and you haven't tried the top down method, give it a try. i was first introduced to the method in a book called hip knit hats by cathy carron. this book rocks in many ways, and this is how most of the hats are started in the book. check it out, it will not disappoint. other good sources are blogs like pulsh where charisa gives great instructions & links for another blog called i'm knitting as fast as i can. these are very good sources, certainly one of these will be able to explain clearly so that you'll soon be on your way to trying out this method.

this little hat is #4 of the xmas 25 or so projects. finished it last week & have finished 3 more projects since, so that's a total of 7 projects down for christmas.

i am on fire.☺

so get out there & try the top down hat. let me know how you like it!

knitting : i love this hobby!

i'm knitting again.
christmas is coming.
yep, sooner than you think.

can you all say "knitting for 25 people for christmas" with me?
uh huh. this is my plan.

when i started knitting back in november 08, i thought, 'oooh, i've got to make everyone in the family something for christmas next year. that would be SO awesome'.

i have big plans.
i do that sometimes.
it usually works out...really!
and i am embracing it.

so it has begun.

isn't this baby sweet?

the pattern is called the hurricane hat. you can find it on ravelry. it was incredibly fast & easy & now i am in love with this hat & even, kind of, the yarn. maybe it's the luscious jewel tones. maybe it's the perfect shape. maybe it's because i started & finished it in one shot - no restart or ripping back - that's my kind of project!

if you're interested, hop on over to ravelry. you need to become a member if you're not, but it's worth the wait! that place is SPEC-tactular!

by the way, the yarn here is patons sws, a wool/soy blend. the colorway is "natural plum". i purchased mine at the local michaels store.

a shopping we will go...

today, i am trekking to ft. wayne with my very best friend to attend the vera bradley outlet sale.

although i do own my fair share of vb, i am mostly going along for the ride, this will be my friend's first time to the sale & she's got a very specific list in mind. i think we will be on a mission.

we could not travel elsewhere without making a stop at a local yarn shop though! so i will be making my first stop at sarah jane's yarn shoppe.

i am so excited & hope that i find some treasures to add to my collection.

after these past few months of working on many little projects, i am dying to sink my teeth into a sweater, so i will have my eyes peeled for good deals suited to start a new project.

knitting mary jane slippers

finished these just in the nick of time for 2 special birthdays.

2 of my nieces who are sisters share the same birthday, just 2 years apart. so in the spirit of all things knitting, i made them these slippers.

i think they turned out pretty well.

they look a little funny & small, a bit mini-ish when they're not on the feet, but they are just as cute as a button when worn - trust me!


hopefully i can post some photos later of the girls wearing these!

knitting crazy

ok, i haven't been blogging like i should...i know...i have been sidetracked, but in a good way.

i've been knitting... knitting like crazy... i am so in love with it! troy says "are you going to take any more pictures are or you just going to become a full-time knitter?"

so yes, i'm knitting a lot... but not too much. is there such a thing as too much knitting? i should think not!

so i am getting back to it...slowly.

i have good things to share...



these are a few of my latest accomplishments. guess who's been getting some new things to wear?

and this is just a peak...more things to come soon.

stay tuned...

manly "mistaken rib" scarf

after getting bit by the knitting bug, i really wanted to make sure everyone in the family had something that one of us knit (shhhhh...don't tell anybody, but my 12 yr. old son can knit too!).

i asked troy (my husband) if he'd like me to make him a scarf, to which he quickly & apparently without thinking said "i don't need another scarf, i already have 2!"... to which the look on my face must have made him think twice because he followed that by saying "it's not personal, it's just not necessary" (or something like that anyway). men. i just don't know...

so of course, i'm makin' him a scarf!

this is a really affordable, machine washable, good old acrylic/polyester blend yarn made by caron, simply soft eco, colorway: forest floor. yes, by "eco" they mean that 20% of the fibers in this yarn are made from 100% post-consumer recycled, plastic bottles. is that cool, or what?

yes, i'm a pretty serious recycler, so i find this pretty neat-o!


the neat thing about this rib pattern is that because it's uneven, or mistaken, it doesn't roll like most 2x2 or 4x4 ribbing would. it lays nice & flat. it has a really interesting look to it also, a little bit bulkier looking than your normal ribbing would look.

my pattern goes something like this:

3 skeins caron simply soft eco, worsted weight yarn

size 7 needles
worked in multiples of 4 stitches, plus 3 more

cast on 43 stitches (this makes my scarf about 5 1/2" wide)

every row: k2, p2. repeat until 3 stitches remain, k2, p1
(each row ends 1 purl stitch short)

repeat rows until you reach desired length

my new obsession

it all started back in november when i got it in my head (and couldn't get it out) that i really wanted a knit hat for winter. after searching around & looking a lot on etsy & all the stores i could find, i purchased a hat & decided "hey, i could knit one myself if i wanted to", because that's just how i naturally think.

so after spending a bit of time (ie: hours) searching the net for free instructions & patterns, i set out to start knitting like a pro. this is just what i do, i find something, i become obsessed & my husband realizes that yet again, he'll be going to bed without me.

so this is one of my first projects. a seed stitch (aka moss stitch) hat, found the free pattern on lion brand's website.

i made my own little alteration because i wanted a bit of ribbing around the bottom edge, otherwise i followed the pattern. i used lion brand yarn, lion 100% wool prints, colorway: ocean blues. i love the seed stitch, it's easy to learn & has such nice texture.

i also found a really great resource in the ravelry online community. i highly recommend it if you're interested in knitting/crocheting. it's a huge, addictive place to roam around.

there are also 2 great local yarn/knitting shops in the area. the first one is the shuttleshop in warsaw. kathy (the owner) is really great. also, there's ewe-nique knits in goshen. these are both great places to go and surround yourself with the wonderful yarn offerings there.

so if you're looking for something to keep your brain fresh & healthy, try taking up a new skill like knitting... i dare you!